The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns have entered into a playoff mentality.
Sitting at 4-3 with just five games to go, the margin for error is incredibly small for Michael Desormeaux’s group. Then, add in the fact that each of the final five games is against Sun Belt West opponents and that margin shrinks even more.
It all starts this Saturday when the Cajuns will head east to Mobile to battle with Carter Bradley and the South Alabama Jaguars. When you look at this matchup, not only is it a division matchup with both teams still fighting for the top spot, but this is also a revenge game for the Cajuns after dropping to the Jags on Homecoming night last year.
The Cajuns opened that game with a punt return touchdown from Eric Garror and had it tied at seven at the halftime break. However, 10 points in the third quarter put the Cajuns behind the eight ball. Ben Wooldridge then led a 4th quarter drive that resulted in the game-tying touchdown with less than a minute to go. Then, Bradley and Jags had their way with the Louisiana defense and set up a walk-off 43-yard field goal from Diego Guajardo to seal a 20-17 victory for South Al.
“We talked about this being a playoff type of mindset,” Desormeaux said during his weekly media availability. “The last five that we got here are all Western Division games, so there is no room for error. We know that and I think we play best when our backs are against the wall a little bit. So that’s kind of where we’re at.”
That playoff mentality is exactly what the Cajuns will need as their next five matchups (@ South Al, @ Arkansas St, Southern Miss, @ Troy, ULM) are all critical to the goal of capturing a Sun Belt West Division title and representing the West in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game on December 2.
Looking at the 2023 season, one thing that stands out is how bright the future is for this football program. This isn’t the same as the 2019 season where the team won 10 games for the first time in program history, but it feels close. You know when watching that team in 2019 that it was only a matter of time before Louisiana was winning a conference title and making a big statement in the college football landscape.
That 2019 season led the way to the 9-1 shortened season in 2020 that included the Cajuns’ first road win against a Top 25 program before the magic of 2021 where Louisiana went 13-1 and captured its first outright Sun Belt Conference Championship.
Meanwhile, on the other side of this matchup, South Alabama knows the type of program they have coming in as an opponent.
“I think our guys are ready,” Wommack said. “It’s an exciting week. Exciting to have Louisiana here at home inside Hancock Whitney Stadium. Exciting to have Joey Jones back this week. Very fitting that he is the very first ever hall of fame inductee for football.”
“Guys are playing well and executing,” Wommack continued. “We’re getting ready to get to this last half of the season with different opponents. (Louisiana) Lafayette is a great defense. We’ve kind of moved on in terms of just where our focus needs to be in terms of the opponents we’re paying in the second half of the season.”
Another big aspect of this weekend’s game that I’m ready to see is how Louisiana responds. When you have a crushing loss like the one last weekend against Georgia State, you either come out energized and ready to flip the page or there’s an even stronger emotional letdown than if it was a big win. So with the Cajuns, can they come out, start fast on offense, and put that homecoming loss to the Panthers behind them, or will it hold them down in a game that they need to win to stay within their goals?
If this Louisiana team can pick up a big road win over South Alabama, it should put them in a great position mentally to go play teams like Arkansas State and Southern Miss the next two weeks. Zeon Chriss also will need to have a bounce-back game, because he may have run the ball well against the Panthers, but it was probably his worst passing performance as a Cajun.
Regardless, this matchup with the Jaguars on Saturday afternoon at Hancock Whitney Stadium will go a long way in showing where this 2023 Cajuns team currently is, and where they could be heading.
Matt Miguez is the host of the Miguez Mindset Podcast on ESPN Southwest Louisiana’s YouTube channel. He is also a digital contributor for ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles.